Joel Greenberg, a indicted associate of embattled Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, is expected to plead guilty to multiple federal charges including sex trafficking next week, Insider reports.
Greenberg, a former Florida tax official, is expected to plead guilty to six counts including sex trafficking, wire fraud, and identity theft, according to the report.
The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid the majority of the 33 charges against him.
Greenberg is expected to fully cooperate with prosecutors in the case, according to the report.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to formally accept the plea agreement from prosecutors, who are also investigating Gaetz and other associates.
Bad news for Gaetz:
Greenberg’s cooperation could spell trouble for Gaetz, who is reportedly under investigation over an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old whose travel and accommodations for funded by the congressman. Gaetz has denied the reports.
"I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Greenberg’s attorney Fritz Scheller told reporters last month after news broke that his client was interested in a plea deal.
"His cooperation requires him to be providing truthful testimony and to provide it at the government's request," former US Attorney David Weinstein told Insider, adding that “it could mean he'd testify in front of a grand jury should Gaetz be charged with a crime and go to trial.”
Greenberg has been cooperating for months:
Greenberg has cooperated with prosecutors since late 2020, according to reports.
The former tax official said in a letter obtained by The Daily Beast that he and Gaetz paid to have sex with a minor, though he said they did not know she was underage at the time.
"From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App, or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman," Greenberg reportedly wrote.
A spokesman for Gaetz denied the allegation.
"The first indictment of Joel Greenberg alleges that he falsely accused another man of sex with a minor for his own gain,” spokesman Harlan Hill told Insider. “That man was apparently innocent. So is Congressman Gaetz.”
